Tiny Talks is an interview series with Tiny Spoon’s talented contributors. This week we spoke with Aaron Lelito from our thirteenth issue.

Tiny Spoon: What kindles your creativity?

Aaron Lelito: I find a lot of inspiration in natural imagery and experimentation with language. For me, visual and literary artforms overlap quite a bit, and creativity seems to come out maintaining a connection with the natural world and looking closely at what I came across, whether it be something on a large scale like a landscape or a big old oak tree, or something much smaller like the pattern of a leaf or moss growing on the sidewalk.

Natural imagery crosses over from photography into my writing as well. In writing, the speaker can comment on these settings in a way that isn’t as prominent in visual art (although I do enjoy creating titles for visual art pieces — that’s one way to connect text and image more directly). In poetry, I find room to express more of my inner life via the natural world. The main themes explored in these poems are relationship, self-reflection, impermanence, and transformation.

Tiny Spoon: Are there any artists/ heroines/ idols/ friends that you look up to?

Aaron Lelito: Certainly, writers like Henry David Thoreau, Gary Snyder, Jane Hirshfield, and Mary Oliver come to mind. I’m drawn to writers with a deep interest in nature, but also a drive to investigate the human condition in all its messiness — desire, love, subjectivity, spirituality. Also, the novelist Don DeLillo has been a longtime influence. His writing style has always “clicked” with me, and I try to revisit his work every so often. He’s such an astute cultural commentator as well, so the subject matter of his novels seems perennially relevant. As for friends, I’ve been fortunate to cross paths with so many amazing writers and artists through Wild Roof Journal — I can’t really single anyone out here for the sake of omitting so many more! It’s important, though, to acknowledge the inspiration that these friends offer in my own creative journey. While the “greats” supply the needed aspirational guidance, the independent writers out there provide the practical step-by-step process that is necessary to get things done, submit them, and ultimately, see them published.

Tiny Spoon: Do you have specific superstitions or divinatory practices that you adhere to?

Aaron Lelito: I love that there is a sense of mystery around the creative process — how ideas pop up out of nowhere, how we make connections we didn’t see previously, how we’re drawn to certain creative directions and not others. I try to leave some room in my creative process for an intuitive approach, whether it’s experimenting with layering images together or playing with lines in a poem that don’t quite fit what’s logical or expected. I suppose trusting my creative intuitions is a bit of superstition, in the sense that it involves believing in something (like a specific piece or larger creative project), putting energy into it, and having patience to see it develop into a reality.

The connection between my meditation practice and creativity is certainly interesting as well, and it’s something that I think about a lot. I don’t know if this relationship can really be quantified, though. In more general terms, my mediation practice impacts my interaction with the world and my writing comes out of that interaction, so clearly there’s an impact happening.

I can add that the types of meditation I’m referring to are shamatha/vipashyana, which are typically more focused on getting familiar with “what is” than a mystical approach to achieving a goal or manifesting a new reality to replace the current one. Of course, there are some more mystical, esoteric aspects of Vajrayana Buddhism that are fascinating to me; however, shamatha/vipashyana is the foundational practice is a part of my routine.

Tiny Spoon: We love insight into the creative process. Could you share what it is like for you, either with your work that appears in Tiny Spoon or in general?

Aaron Lelito: The writing process usually starts with my notebook, where I write lines, fragments, and phrases that I can piece together or add to existing poems. Sometimes micro poems became the building blocks of longer poems, and I find something appealing about the conciseness and sparseness of these pieces. Since the initial drafts can have an objective, observational style, I revise with more pathos in mind, building on some of the emotional context that was surrounding me at the time of writing.

I love keeping a notebook for creative writing — good quality paper and a decent pen. For my poetry, that’s usually where it all starts. Second, I have a digital camera, and these photographs are typically what I use for different forms of digital art. Also, I enjoy bringing both of these elements together, layering nature photos with photos of my notebook pages. In these cases, the text of the notebook page can come through in unexpected ways. I put together a collection of “notebook-art” last year, using notebook pages from several Wild Roof Journal contributors. I layered their pages with my own nature photos and called the collection If We: Connections Through Creative Process.) A download of this collection is available on the Wild Roof Journal website.)

Tiny Spoon: Do you have any current or future projects that you are working on that you would like to share?

Aaron Lelito: I have a mirco-chapbook coming out as part of the Ghost City Press Summer Series. This is a
collection of notebook-art images similar to the piece included in Tiny Spoon. I’m also sending out a poetry manuscript for publicaiton. Other than that, my main project is Wild Roof Journal, so I’m usually in progress with various parts of the issue cycle and organizing a weekly Substack feature.

Tiny Spoon: What book, artwork, music, etc., would you recommend to others?

Aaron Lelito: Years ago, I wrote down a quote from Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth, so perhaps this is a fitting recommendation to share here: “Sit in a room and read — and read and read. And read the right books by the right people. Your mind is brought onto that level, and you have a nice, mild, slow-burning rapture all the time.” Having said that, I’d recommend the writers listed above (Thoreau, Walden and “Life Without Principle,” Snyder, Turtle Island and Practice of the Wild, Hirshfield, The Asking, Oliver, Devotions, DeLillo, White Noise and The Body Artist). As for music, I appreciate 90’s indie bands like Pavement and Built to Spill, and since I’ve been out of the loop with new musics lately, I go back to that genre the most. As a poet and musician, David Berman of Silver Jews was influential as well. The 1998 album American Water features Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus and is definitely worth a listen for its lyrics as much as the music.

Tiny Spoon: Is there anything else you would like others to know about you, your creations, or beyond?

Aaron Lelito: Speaking of music, the title of the piece in Tiny Spoon Issue 13, “Drive South, Feel Meaning” (which appears written in the upper right corner of the image), comes from the nostalgia heavy “Ann’s Jam” by Chastity Belt. Something about that song is so evocative to me, and I’ve listened to it a lot, so variations of the lyrics appeared in quite a few places in my notebook during that time.

Tiny Spoon: Where can people learn more about what you do?

Aaron Lelito: As for social media, I’m most active on Instagram (@aaronlelito & @wildroofjournal). My personal website is aaronlelito.com has more about me and previous publications and my editor profile is available on Reedsy . Also, wildroofjournal.com has everything you need as far as learning about the publication — issue archive, submission info, and podcast episodes.